Shoddy practices need nailing

Not all salons fitting acrylic nails are up to standard, with some a health hazard, writes Renee Jones.
Kathy Christopher wanted beautiful nails. She mentioned it so often that a friend gave her a gift voucher to have them done. But when she went to a nail salon to get acrylic nails fitted, the beauty treatment that should have made her feel a million dollars became a nightmare. It's left her nails badly damaged. She all but lost some nails permanently. It has taken a year of treatment from a reputable nail salon for her badly damaged fingers to be nursed back to health. Kathy, 52, of Glendowie, suffered the painful and frightening effects of the chemical methyl methacrylate (MMA), used in acrylic nails at some salons, often the cheaper clinics. She knew something was wrong when her real nail lifted from the base and was black underneath four months after having the acrylic nails applied. Concerned, she went to her doctor and was told that MMA probably caused the damage. ``I was quite worried about it in terms of my health. I just thought: I have to get these things off me. I was worried when they pulled back the skin. It was revolting. I was mortified.'' Following several years of complaints, MMA has been listed as a hazardous substance and will be banned from the cosmetics industry from January 1 by the Environmental Risk Management Authority. Belatedly, New Zealand joins many other countries including the US, Canada (which licenses salons), and several European nations. But industry veterans say that won't clean up all the problems in the salons. Pam Jones, director of The Salons Group, has been in the industry for nearly 30 years and says there are still problems to confront. ``It's not just MMA doing the damage. It's practice in the industry because it's unregulated.'' Some cut-price nail salons use poorly sanitised instruments that cause infections and electric filing machines that damage skin around the nail, she says. ``Another major problem is the cutting of cuticles -there's no need for cutting cuticles today. Once you cut the cuticle, that's where the infection starts.'' The Salons Group is pushing for the industry to be regulated. ``There's no protection here for the consumer, that's the major problem. Nail services should not be painful ... it should be pleasant.'' There is no nail industry association in New Zealand.
THE NAIL FILE Some cut-price salons use acrylic nails containing MMA. This can cause allergic reactions, dermatitis, loss of nail plate, irritability to the eyes, skin and respiratory tract. MMA will be banned from January 1. But industry veterans fear there are more problems because salons aren't regulated. These include poorly sanitised instruments, electric filing machines and the cutting of cuticles.